Circuitry for interrupting arc discharge in a gas-discharge vessel is known. This circuitry consists of a rectifier which is connected in parallel through a choke with the gas-discharge vessel and a series circuit including the rimary winding of a saturating transformer and a capacitor. Between an intermediate tap of the primary winding of saturating the transformer and the positive terminal of the rectifier a thyristor is mounted, its cathode being connected with the intermediate tap. The input of a unit for control pulse shaping is connected with the secondary of the saturating transformer whose two outputs are connected correspondingly with both outputs of an autonomous unit for control pulse shaping and correspondingly with the gate and the cathode of the thyristor BG22690.
A disadvantage of this device is its inefficiency which is due to the fact that the period from the time of turning off the thyristor until the time of glow discharge excitation varies depending on the value of discharge current. Large periods of this type corresond to small values of discharge current, and vice versa.